Congrats to the great Greg Maddux and his longtime teammate and friend Tom Glavine, as well as to Frank Thomas, on entering the Hall of Fame. I’d like to offer a pat on the back to the Baseball Writers Association of America for getting it 75 percent right this year after the mistake of 2013.
A special shout out to Bob Sansevere and Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press for not being smart enough to vote for Craig Biggio. The former chose Sammy Steroid Sosa instead. And the latter decided that Biggio just wasn’t worthy, as he didn’t even bother to vote for 10 people.
For what it’s worth Craig Biggio missed the Hall of Fame by two votes. How 3,000 hits in the steroid era is not more impressive than 500-plus homers I will never understand. My guess is that Sid Hartman is the person who voted for Jacque Jones because he was a Minnesota Twin, but we really need to hold the voters more accountable.I am sending my condolences to Bud Selig, (who in my opinion is the most bipolar sports leader maybe in history) on losing 49 games off of the Alex (Aroid) Rodriguez suspension. It would have been nice to know that he was never going to be seen again. On the other side of the coin I would like to say congrats to MLB for sticking with the arbitration process, and abiding by the arbitrator’s ruling. I am not sure where the Yankees stand on the issue because they need a third baseman, but that’s a lot of money to save that can now be put toward another player.
In other news, the Masahiro Tanaka saga has finally made it to chapter three. The first chapter was his hype, and the second was the fact that he was finally posted.
Now comes the GREED of big money teams. While the Astros, Twins, Royals, and others toward the bottom of the league could desperately use him (if he’s the real deal), it’s safe to say that this is going to be a bidding war between West Coast cash vs Yankee Money.
Loading ...
100% agreed on Biggio. His exclusion is yet another reason to scrutinize the voting process. Also, now that the Dodgers have locked up Kershaw, do you think that effectively signals them not being all-in on Tanaka?
Personally I don’t think it signifies anything of the sort on the Dodgers and Tanaka. LA and its current ownership group have shown no evidence of any desire to hold back on spending. My guess is they’re all in and that, as Brad indicated, it’s a Dodgers/Yankees fight over his services. The posting process for international players and the inequities involved due to ridiculous television money versus what middle America teams can get is one of my biggest issues with MLB. They can talk all they want about luxury caps, blah, blah. They have not solved competitive balance in this sport. And it soon could look like the NBA, where every season starts with the knowledge that about a half dozen teams are contenders and the rest might as well just stay home.
Kershaw… this is an amazing deal for the Dodgers. Kershaw is still very young, and he has an almost flawless delivery that should keep him from getting seriously injured. He’s not a fat guy, or a twig like Lincecum so his stuff shouldn’t fall quite as fast. There is an opt out at the 5 year mark that should allow him to make another couple hundred million before he retires as the best lefty since Randy Johnson. It also avoided the magic $300,000,000.00 number that I’ve heard floated around from league sources that no one wants to go over until the Angels are forced to.
Andy, I want to remind you that the Angels spent like demons the last few years and have Josh Hamilton sitting there, and I’m sure there are those in the front office just praying he relapses and is found guilty of failing the morality clause in his contract voiding it. Also as much as I love Pujols’ swing… that team has albatrossed itself by spending foolishly. The Yankees do that from time to time too, but they are always in it to win it, and will take a shot or two in spite of mistakes. The Dodgers have 3 owners of bottomless wealth, and a 4th in Magic Johnson who is worth an estimated $600 million. That owner is the one everyone needs to pay attention to however because he was the most competitive and driven player in the NBA. More so than MJ, Kobe or Bird. None of them would change their contract just to bring more talent onto the team. None of them would or could play multiple positions. Nevertheless he brings that same mentality to the Dodgers. WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN
While I dislike the inequity in baseball as much as you do Andy, I also have to remind you that people have been complaining about the big markets spending ridiculously since Babe Ruth. And finally on Tanaka, while everything says he is going to be a very good pitcher something like Greg Maddux… there’s a lot of failed prospects and superstar can’t miss guys who flamed out and fell short of glory for a lot less than what Tanaka is going to make. I would love to see a team like Houston, Minnesota, or KC be able to get him, but he’s an unknown, and it’s always about the big boys getting to take the risks.
Cheap-ass owners like the Pohlads and Jeffery Loria (sp?) in Miami love when the Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, Angels, Phillies and Yankees blow big cash because it means more ESPN money, and more spending money on their personal jets (and not on their teams).